It was the social highlight of the year, wasn’t it? The Christmas Disco.

We’d all be decked out in our best gear and maybe sneak a few wee alcoholic beverages on the way to the venue. We’d bodyswerve the patrolling teachers / supervisors and after propping up the walls of the room while waiting for that dutch courage to kick in, would eventually ask the girl / boy we fancied for a dance.

There was so much great, if a tad cheezy, Christmas party-music in the charts through the early part of The Seventies and the evening would be spent dancing and showing off to many of the sounds we still enjoy fifty years later.

But which Christmas Disco song holds a special memory for you? And briefly, why does it hold a significant memory? You’re can choose just one song.

Here’s mine – it’s not ‘festive’ at all, really, but reminds me so much of one particular Christmas Disco!

_____

Though I didn’t get on the school trip to the Mediterranean on the good ship SS Uganda (you thought I’d forgotten about that, didn’t you? Never! 😉 ) I was selected with a couple other lads from my troop, to represent Glasgow Scouts on a visit to London.

On the last night of the trip, our hosts had lined up a Christmas Disco, to which a unit of local Girl Guides were invited. I thought I was getting along fine with one particularly attractive girl and when this (not exactly festive) song came on we stumbled around the dance-floor in a ‘smoochie.’

Then the fire alarm was activated and we were all quickly ushered out the building!

Of course, we had to gather with our respective Leaders for a roll call, and when allowed back in and the disco restarted, the girl I’d spent much of the evening with was nowhere to be seen!

Full marks to her on taking such prompt advantage of the situation, but a simple “You’re chucked” would have done the trick without the drama.

Hey ho ho ho!

(Post by Colin ‘Jackie’ Jackson from Glasgow – December 2024)

__________

The choice of blog co-host, Paul Fitzpatrick from London – reminds him of school discos, mistletoe, snakebites & love-bites… an absolute Xmas classic!

Fiona Mackenzie also went with this one as it reminds her of seeing Elton and Kiki Dee performing the song ‘live.’

__________

The choice of Alan Macdonald from Stirlingshire – who is right now warming up his tonsils in readiness.

__________

Contributors George Cheyne and Mark Arbuckle, along with Iain MacDonald all go with possibly the Daddy of all Christmas songs.

In Mark’s case, this classic sparks memories of a Christmas disco in 1973 when he and his pal were pleasantly surprised to discover their respective girlfriends wanted to swap boys. (It didn’t last, and they reverted to the initial pairings about six months later!) 😂

__________

Regular contributor John Allan from Australia has gone with another ‘non festive’ track as the one to bring back memories of, as he says:

‘Fortified by cheap cider, stomping away at the Bearsden Ski Club Xmas disco to ‘John, I’m Only Dancing’ by Bowie thinking they’re playing my tune ! 🕺’

(Well done, John!  That at least showed a bit more ambition than most of us lads who would simply try to modify the ‘thumbs in the Wrangler jeans belt loops’ style of Status Quo or ‘Tiger Feet’ era Mud.😉

__________

Robert Oliphant’s vote goes to a Christmas song I’d personally also have on my Festive Playlist, though not for the same reason 😉 – just that it sums up the true Christmas spirit for me.

‘It’s Christmas 1976 (I’m the grand old age of “nearly 11”, remember how we thought that way?!) and myself and a pal are invited to a party by one of our Moorpark Primary classmates, we arrive at the house and apart from parents, it’s us two boys and about a dozen girls!

In later life that would be the stuff of dreams!

Turns out our invitee and her best friend “fancied” me and my best friend. The young and innocent me didn’t really understand this but this qualifies as first girlfriend and first kiss!

So apart from the fact it genuinely is among the best Christmas songs ever, Greg Lake’s I Believe in Father Christmas has special memories for me!

(Names remembered but withheld to protect the innocent!)’